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Follow Up:
July 22, 2003
Hi America Bikes insiders, We're making progress on saving the Enhancements program from the surprise attack in the 2004 budget prepared by a House Appropriations subcommittee. Our 'save Enhancements' message has been heard on the Hill, and there are some promising developments. An editorial in the St. Petersburg Times, July 20th, highlights the longtime support of House Appropriations Committee Chair Rep Bill Young (R-FL) for the Pinellas Trail and other bike/ped projects. The editorial says: "Young, the powerful Appropriations chairman and long a proponent of trail and sidewalk projects at home, could be riding to the rescue. He will file his own amendment to the subcommittee's bill (essentially, he'll rewrite it) "to address some of his concerns, which includes funding for transportation enhancements," John Scofield, a spokesman for Young, said Friday." http://www.sptimes.com/2003/07/20/Perspective/Reinstate_trail_fundi.shtml If true, this is great news. The offending language was the work of Rep Istook (R-OK) who chairs a subcommittee of Appropriations. The bill might be heard on July 23rd, but more likely it will be pushed back until September, as the House recesses this Friday. If we receive some confirmation or see bill language restoring Enhancements funding, I'll let you know asap so we can call off the troops. Right now, we don't need to deluge the House with another round of calls but it's okay that our action alerts are still in circulation. We'll post an update on www.americabikes.org tomorrow. House offices have been flooded with calls on several problematic sections of the Appropriations bill, but the biggest outcry is over Enhancements. Good work in spreading the word folks! We've proven that we can respond quickly, and we've reminded Congress not to mess with Enhancements. This display of force will surely help us as reauthorization continues. We'll keep you posted on further developments. -m Martha Roskowski
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